Curbside Pickup
Curbside pickup brings an online order to the customer’s car, the fastest form of local pickup.
What curbside pickup is
Curbside pickup is collecting an online order without leaving the car: the customer parks in a designated spot, signals arrival, and staff bring the order out.
Why curbside pickup matters
It’s the fastest version of buy-online-pickup: no shipping wait, no parking-and-walking, no carrier fees for the store. Normalized during the pandemic, it stayed because the convenience is real, especially for groceries, bulky items, and parents with sleeping kids in the back seat.
What smooth curbside requires
- Marked spots and a check-in path: app, text, or plate recognition
- Ready-time promises the store actually hits
- Staging near the door so runs take seconds
- Identity checks proportionate to order value
Frequently asked questions
Curbside vs BOPIS: what’s the difference?
Both are pickup of online orders; BOPIS brings the customer inside to a counter, curbside brings the order to the car. Inside pickup invites extra browsing; curbside wins on pure speed.
What breaks the curbside experience?
The wait: a customer parked ten minutes while staff hunt the order erases the whole point. Ready-notifications that mean ready, and staging discipline, are the difference between delight and a one-star story.